US imposes sanctions in joint action with Saudi Arabia

FILE - In this May 13, 2016 file photo, Hashem Safieddine, head of Hezbollah's executive council, second left, is seen in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. The Trump administration imposed its first terrorism sanctions jointly with Saudi Arabia on Friday as President Donald Trump travels to the kingdom on his first overseas trip. The State Department announced sanctions on senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine and Muhammad al-Isawi, a leader of the Islamic State group's operations on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration imposed its first terrorism sanctions jointly with Saudi Arabia on Friday as President Donald Trump travels to the kingdom on his first overseas trip.

The State Department announced sanctions on senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine and Muhammad al-Isawi, a leader of the Islamic State group's operations on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

Saudi Arabia joined the U.S. in targeting Safieddine, who is said to oversee the financial empire of the Lebanon-based party.

"As a result, any of his assets held in Saudi Arabia are frozen, and transfers through the kingdom's financial sector are prohibited," the State Department said in a statement.

Hezbollah is close to Iran, Saudi Arabia's main rival for power in the region, and has played a key role in boosting the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad. The Saudis also accuse Iran and Hezbollah of fanning the war in Yemen by supporting the Houthi rebels.

Hezbollah, which has members in Lebanon's parliament and Cabinet, is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

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The United States is looking ahead toward a decisive battleground in its bid to destroy the Islamic State group, even as America's allies must still finish the fight for the extremists' two main strongholds in Iraq and Syria